In this May 18, 2013 photo, Wan Long, chairman of Shuanghui International, speaks at the U.S.-China Cooperation Forum on Agricultural Investment in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province. The force behind China's biggest takeover of an American company is the 71-year-old meat-packing entrepreneur dubbed "China's Chief Butcher" by the press who built an empire on his country's voracious appetite for pork. The $4.7 billion bid for Smithfield Foods by Wan, is another big step up for Chinese entrepreneurs who are emerging from the shadow of state-owned corporate giants and expanding on the global stage. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT (The Associated Press)

In this Friday, Feb. 24, 2006 photo, a worker loads boxes of foods at a freight station at the Shuanghui Group in Luohe city in central China's Henan province. The force behind China's biggest takeover of an American company is a 71-year-old meat-packing entrepreneur dubbed "China's Chief Butcher" by the press who built an empire on his country's voracious appetite for pork. The $4.7 billion bid for Smithfield Foods by Wan Long, chairman of Shuanghui International, is another big step up for Chinese entrepreneurs who are emerging from the shadow of state-owned corporate giants and expanding on the global stage. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT (The Associated Press)

BEIJING – The force behind China's biggest takeover of an American company is a 71-year-old meat-packing entrepreneur dubbed "China's Chief Butcher" by the press who built an empire on his country's voracious appetite for pork.

The $4.7 billion bid for Smithfield Foods by Wan Long, chairman of Shuanghui International, is another big step up for Chinese entrepreneurs who are emerging from the shadow of state-owned corporate giants and expanding on the global stage.

Under pressure to keep economic growth strong, the new government of President Xi Jinping has promised a bigger role and lighter regulatory burden to entrepreneurs who generate China's jobs and wealth. Still, it is unclear how far the ruling Communist Party is willing to go in making crucial changes including curbing the dominance of state industry.